Shoe-polishing machine.



G. B. GRAFTON.

SHOE POLISHING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION HLEIfJULY 24, 1911.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

4 SHEETS-BHEET l.

FIGLZ."

INVE TOR G. B. GRAFTON.

SHOE POLISHING MACHINE.

AIPLIOATIOH FILED JULY 24, 1911,

1,088,563, v Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

SHEETSBHBET 2.

VILKWQL.

G. B. GRAFTON.

SHOE POLISHING MACHINE.

A?PLIGATION FILED'JULY 24, 1911.

Patented Feb. 24., 1914 4 SHEETS-BHEET 3.

FIG].

WITNESSES G. B. GRAFTON SHOE POLISHING MACHI APPLICATION FILED JULY 2;, 1111.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

FIG.9.

INVENTOH UNITED STATES PATENT our-10E.

'enonen n. GRAFTON, or McKEESPORT, rEnnsYLvAnI-A, assrenon T wns'r- .MQRELAND AUTOMATIC MACHINE COMPANY, or IRWIN, rnnnsYLvAnm, A.

CORPORATION OF PENNSYPVANIA.

SHOE-POLISHING luncnm'n.

Specification of Letters Patent. t Patented Feb,'2 4 1914,

Application filed July 24, 1911. Serial No. 640,140.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, Gnonon B. GRAFTON, a resident of-McKeesport, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Polishing Machines, of which the following is a specification. a This invention relates to the general type of shoe polishing machines, for instance as shown in patent to Frank Magidson, No.

on l1nes 13 13 and 1 11 1, respectively, of

919,903, April 27, 1909, wherein separate brushes are employed forcleaning and polishing the toe or front and the side portions of the shoe.

In the development of the present improvements, the toe and side brushes are so connected-by suitable gearing that all ofsaid brushes are rotated by a single drive shaft which is mo'va-bly mounted for the purpose of traveling. with the shifting brushes, thus rendering the driving mechanism more simple, direct, and compact than heretofore. i a

A further purpose is to control the intermittent operation 'by a timing shaft and parts operated thereby of improved construction and arrangement.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 ,.is a side elevation of the mechanism within the casing or cabinet with the parts in the positions they occupy when at rest pre ceding the starting of the'polishing operation, at such time all of the brushes being at the inward limit of their'travel. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the brush mechanism at the outward limit of travel, the brushes being shown inoperative relation with a shoe beingpolished- Fig. 3 is a plan of the mechanism partly in section, the plane of section through the toe brush mechanism being indicated by line 3 3, of Fig. 2. Fig. 4.

is a sectional plan on line l- 1, of Fig. 5; Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken on line '5-5, of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken through the toe brush mechanism on line 6-6, of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a detail of one of the side brushes, and-Fig. 8 is a similarview of one of the side brushes, together With a diagrammatic illustration of the operating mechanism common thereto and to the toe brushes. Fig. 9 is a detail partly in section of the coin chute and coin-holding and releasing mechanism, and Fig. 10 is a Fig.12. Fig. 15 is a sectional detail of one of the liquid polish atomizers. Referring to the drawings, the cabinet in which all of the mechanism is inclosed consists of a forwardly extending portion 2' open at the top at 3 for inserting the foot, the rear upright part 4 of the cabinet being higher than the'front portion, as shown.

Within the cabinet all of the mechanism is preferably mounted on a base plate 5, with posts or standards Grising therefrom and supporting shelf! on which an electric motor 8 is mounted. Armature shaft 9 of the motor is geared at 10 to the relatively short shaft 11, and the latter is in turn geared at 12 to the downwardly extending shaft '13 which at its lower end is connected by the worm gearing 14 with transverse shaft 15, the latter being provided at its ends with cranks 16 which effect bodily movement of the brushes relatively to the foot support, as

willbe presently explained. l

Secured to base oat the transverse center of the machine is; the foot rest 17 and extending along oppositeside's thereof arethe two upper rods 18, and beneath and parallel with the latter'are similar rods 19. The pairs of rods thus located at opposite sides of the foot support form tracks on which slide the frames 20 which carry the side brushes 21, also theliquid polish containers 22, each of the latter having a bottomrib 23 which is removably entered between the top flanges 24 of frame 20, see Figs 1, 2 and 4. The side brushes 21 are rotatable about vertical-axes at the free end of the bracket-like arms 25 which are hinged at 26 to the inner sides of frames 20, springs 27 being prorods 18 is the transverse toe brush support vided on the rods of hinges 26 for holding the brushes normally in close proximity to each other-and to the foot rest, as in Figs. 3 and 4, stops 28 and 28 on frame and arm' 25, respectively, limitingsuch movement so that the brushes cannot swing outward or toward each other too far. Inorder to insure close contact of the brushes with the heel portion of the shoe, the-brushcarrying arms or brackets engage the yielding bar or stop 25, Figs. 2, 3 and 4, and are'forced together and around the heel, overcoming any tendency the brush bristles might have to prevent such close contact. Also slidable on the upper track or carriage- 29, which depressed or yokeshaped between the tracks, see Fig. 5, to permit the toe brushes to operate. 'Journaled in carriage 29 is the'transverse shaft 30, and rotatably mounted on this shaft is frame 31 which carries the oppositely disposed-toe brushes 32 and 33, the former servingjto spread liquid polish and partially develop the shine, and brush 33 acting as a bufler'to fully complete the same. These toe brushes, or more strictly brush 32 and buffer 33, are of the-general construction and arrangement shown in Patent No. 919,903 above referred to, but the brush actuating or driving mechanism is somewhat differently arranged, as will presently appear.

The mechanism which slides or reciprocates the side brush carrier 20 and the toe brush carrier 29 on the horizontal tracks is the same at each side of the machine, each of these. side mechanisms consisting of a lever 35 fulcrumed at 35 to base 5, with the upper extremity of the lever connected by link 36 with frame 20, and the leverbeneaih its upper end connected by link 37 with frame or carriage 29. Beneath said connections link 38 connects lever 35 with crank arm 16.0n shaft 15. It is necessary for theside brushes to travel farther than the toe brushes, and with levers 35 and their several -movements are communicated from the.

single upright drive shaft 40 which is flexibly connected to support 29 by the socketlike joint 41, Fig. 6, the movement of shaft 40 being compensated for at its driven end by yoke-like bearing 42 mounted to oscillate on the armature shaft 9, shaft 40 being slidable through but splined to. gear 43 mounted in yoke. 42, with said gear meshing with gear 44 on shaft 9, as shown in Fig. 1..

The lower endof shaft 40 is geared at 45 to shaft 30 on support or carriage 29, Fig. 6,

and carried by this shaft is gear 46 which meshes with gear 32 of toe brush 32, also with like gear 33 of buffer 33, Figs. 3 and 8 with the result that'both of said brushes 32 and 33 are rotated in unison. The mechanism for releasing andreversing said brushes will presently be described. In addition to driving the toe brushes shaft 30 isgeared to the short vertical shafts 47 at either side of support or carriage 29, Figs. 6 and 8, and geared to the lower ends of shafts 47 are the tubular portions 48 of the extensible shafts which sliding. longitudinally within the tubular portions 48 and having pin 'and slot connecdrive the side brushes, the solid portions 49 of said shafts tions 50 therewith, see Figs. 3 and 8. The

outer ends of shafts 48 49 are journaled in the outer ends of swinging arms or brackets 25 and are geared at 51 with spindles 21 of the side brushes, as in Fig. 8. The eX- tensible or telescoping power transmitting shafts communicate requisite motion to the side brushes from the same mechanism that drives the toe brushes, and at the same time compensate for the'variations in travel of the toe and side brushes. I

The toe brush carryi ng frame 31 is prevented from'rotating with shaft 30 by one or the other of two latch arms 55 and 56 pivotally supported at the rear side of carriage 29 each latch arm carrying a notched head 57 which slides thereon, being held normally raised by the cushioning spring 57. The head 57 of latcharm 55 is adapted to engage a lug 58 at one. end of frame 31 for holding the latter with toe brush 32 in operative position, while a similar lug 58 at the opposite end of frame 31 is adapted to be engaged by the head of latch arm 56 for so holding the frame as to cause buffer with each of latch arms-55 and 56 is an arm 59, and-the upper end of each arm carries a stop screw 60 for limiting the inward movement of the latch arm against the pullof a spring 61. The lower extremityof each '33 to operate on the shoe. Adapted to turn arm 59 forms atrip 59,'and the backward movement of the support or carriage 29 places these trips in the path of wipers 62 mounted on transverse shaft 63, Figs. 1 and 5, the rotation of shaft 63 being so timed as to engage the trips 62 when support 29 is in its rearmost position, Fig. 1, thus tipping or tilting both latch arms and releasing frame 31, whereupon the latter turns through half arevolution or until the'lug 58 or 58, as

the case maybe, on the other end of the frame engages its notched latch 57, thus again locking frame 31 with one or the other of brushes 32 or 33 held in operative position. ,The latch heads 57 are beveled as shown so that the lugs on frame '31 will readily deflect and engageithe same, at such time springs 57 permitting the latch heads to yield downwardly and thus cushioning what would otherwise be a sudden and pos sibly damaging jar on frame 31. Also, the springs yieldingly oppose upward tilting or swinging of the active brush when operyatingon the shoe, Fig. 2, and maintain suifi cient pressure to make the operation of the brush effective. The turning ofshaft 30 tends to rotate frame 31,.when the latter is unlatched, but to insure this. movement a spring 64, coiled on shaft 30, bears against a stop on said shaft and on the inner side of the frame, Figs. 3. and 6, thus frictionally connecting the parts.

Shaft 63- is geared at 65 to shaft 15, Figs.

- 1 and 4, and this shaft 63 in addition to car rying wipers 62 operates to drive the vertical shaft 66 which extends upwardly and is geared to the timing shaft 67 located in the upper portion of the machine at the rearof the motor.

The timing mechanism actuated by shaft 67, i. e., the mechanism for making and breakin the main motor circuit, is shown in detail 'in Figs. 12, 13, and 14. Secured to shaft 67 is head 68 of insulating material provided on one face with a flat metallic ring 69 which is constantly engaged by the sprmg contact 7 O at terminal, B of the main motor circuit A. Spaced from head 68 is the non-rotatable head 71 of insulating material which is cushioned by spring 71 on its support 72, and with the face of head 71 provided with a camor wedge-shaped metallic ring 73 which is formed with. a break or interruption,'as indicated at 74. A pin 75 is extended through head 71, and connected to this pin is the other terminal C of the main motor circuit A. A pin 76 carried by head 68'is moved by the latter over the face of ring 73 and the circuit is closed until said pin reaches interruption 74, Fig. 13,

when the main motor circuit is broken and the machine is brought to a standstill.

To start the machine, a starting circuit is utilized which operates in conjunction with a coin chute, which I will now describe. The coin chute 77 is adapted to receive a coin or check S of whatever denomination through i the drop 77 which may be conveniently arranged in the top of cabinet 4. One terminal 7) ofthe starting circuit a is connected to the chute, Figs. 9 and 10, and the other terminal c of said circuit is connected to the vertically swinging latch 78 pivoted to the chute. A V-shaped detent 79 is pivoted in the chute with one arm 80 thereof located ,78, but normally disen within the chute and the other arm projecting through a slot and into the path of latch aged therefrom, the normal position of the detent being as shoWn in full lines in Fig. 9. When a coin or check S is dropped into the chute and engages the detent, the latter is turned to the dotted line position of Fig. 9, thereby engaging its arm 81 with the insulated latch contact member 7 8t to which the circuit terminal c is connected, at the same time holding the coin or check lodged in the chute, as in Fig. 9. Thus, the starting circuit a is closed to thecoin chute, detent 79 and latch contact 7 8 and the motor is started, whereupon contact pin 76 is moved from the position indicated in Fig. 13 into engagement with the surface of ring 73 thereby again opening the main circuit. The starting of the machine causes the wiper 82, Fig. 9, on

"raises latch 7 Sandperniits the detent arm 80 to swing downwardly or .loackwardly, as in Fig. 10, and releases the coin whichlatter then drops into the. coin box 84, the machine continuing to 'run until contact pin 76 again reaches interruption 74 when the machine comes to a standstill. As thus arranged, the machineis designed to provide a one complete operation for each coin or check inserted, a penny or a one cent piece for instance, so that both shoes are automatically cleaned and polished ,for two cents. Being primarily a penny machine, no special provision is had for guarding against operation with slugs, though it may be operated by any coin or slug that is not toolarge.

As here embodied, each liquid polish con tainer 22 has a spraying or atomizing nozzle 85 which is connected by flexible tube 86 with an air pipe 87 extending from a pivot; ally mounted pump 88, the piston of the lat: ter being operated by a crank 89 normally loose on the extremity. of shaft 11, Figs. 1, 5 and 11. For operatin the crank arm, it is provided with a clutch face which is adapted tobe engaged by clutch head.90 slidable on and rotatable with shaft 11, said clutch adapted to be thrown out by lever 91 against the pull :of spring 92, Fig. 11. Normally, lever 91 holds the clutch disengaged, but whena'projection on the lever registers with depression 93 ina wheel 93 secured to shaft 67, the spring throws the clutch in momentarily and several strokes are imparted to the pump piston which are quite sufiicient to provide the necessary spraying action. It will be understood that this operation of the pump is so timed as to spray a shoe during such portion of the travel of the container carrying frames 20 as is necessary to effectively apply the same to the several parts of the shoe.

Each atomizer may be constructed as of fluid7 as will be understood.

pendinginto container 22, with nozzle 95 at the inner extremity of air tube 86 to pro ject air through head 85 in such manner as to induce an'upward and outward spray Y I claim:

1. The combination of a foot rest, a ro- 2. The combination of a foot rest, rotatable side brushes movable bodily relatively to the foot rest, a rotatable toe brush movable bodily relatively to the foot rest and at a different speed from the bodily movement of the side brushes, a drive shaft, and mech anism operatively' connecting the shaft with all of said brushes, said mechanism including longitudinall extensible shafts interposed between t e toe and side, brushes -Which compensate for the variations in speed at which said brushes move.

3. The combination of a vmotor shaft, a horizontal shaft beneath and geared to the motor shaft; a foot rest, rotatable brushes, supports for the brushes movable relatively to the foot rest, means connecting said horizontal shaft with the supports for moving the latter, a brush driving shaft movable with one of said supports, a bearing through which said shaft moves longitudinally, said bearing being mounted-to oscillate concentrically with said motor shaft, and gearing connecting the motor shaft and said brush driving shaft.

4. The combination of a foot rest, brushes for operating on different parts of the shoe,

a movable support for each brush, a lever connected to the respective supports at different distances from the lever fulcrum whereby the supports are moved at different speeds, and means for actuating the lever.

5. The combination of a foot rest, supports at opposite sides of the rest and movable longitudinally thereof, a movable toe' brush support, side andtoe brushes carried by the'respective supports, a pair of levers with each lever connected to a side zbrush support and also to the toe brush support,

said connections being at different distances from the lever fulcrum whereby the sup ports are moved at different speeds, and lever actuating means.

6. The combination of a foot rest, a toe brush, a toe brush support slidable toward and from the front ofrthe foot rest, side brushes, supports for the side brushes.- distinct from the toe'brush support and slidable longitudinally of the foot rest, a pair of levers, with each lever connected tothe toe brush support and to a side brush sup- 7 support, meansfor moving the support to-- ward and from thefoot rest, a brush rotatably mounted on the support, a power shaft, a transmissionshaft pivotally and slidably connected to the power shaft and pivotally connected to the brush support, and gearing connecting the transmission shaft and brush.

8. The combination of a foot rest, rotatable side brushes, supports for the side brushes movable longitudinally of the rest, a 'toe brush,-a movable toe brush support distinct from the side brush supports, means for moving the several brush supports, a

power transmission shaft vmovably connected to *one of the brush supports, and gearing connecting said. shaft with the several brushes. .7

9.'The' combination of afoot rest, rotatable side brushes movable bodily longitudinally of the rest,.a rotatable toe brush movable bodily toward and from the rest, means for moving the side brushes bodily, means for moving the toe brush bodily and at a different speed from that of the side brushes, a power transmission shaft movable with and geared to the toe brush, and com ensating gearing connecting said shaft with the side brushes for rotating the latter irrespective of the difference in bodily movement between the side and toe brushes.

10. The combination of a footlrest, side brushes, side brush supports at opposite sides of the foot rest and slidable longitudin'ally thereof, a toe brush, a toe brush support slidable relatively to the foot rest, actuating means for the several supports, and brush actuating mechanism.

11. The combination ofa foot rest, side and toebrushes, a separate supportfor each brush with all of the supports slidable longimeans connected to all ofthe supports,

'tudinally of the'foot rest, support actuating means for causing the actuating means to move the side brush supports a greater dis ,tance than t-hetoe.br'ush support, and brush actuating means.

12. The combination of a footrest,- tracks extending longitudinally of the foot rest, separate side and toe brush supports movable on the tracks, side and toe brushesrot'atably'mounted, respectively, on the sup ports, means for moving the supports on the tracks. and brush rotating means.

13. The combination ofe foot rest, tracks i moving the separttte supports, a toe brush In testimony whereof I afiix my signaholder rotatably mounted on the toe brush ture in presence of two Witnesses.

support toe brushes rotatably mounted in i 1 1 the holder, means for rotating said holder. GEORGE GRAFLUN' side brushes rotatably mounted on the side \Vitnesses:

brush supports, and means for rotating the J. M.'W0LK, side and toe brushes. A. C. SNIVELY. 

